How much can we rely on casts from fossil skulls when the relationship between the mind and the brain is unclear even in currently living human beings?
Tag: Neanderthals
Mystery: Modern humans lived in a cave in France 10,000 years earlier than thought — then vanished
At Nature: A study published on 9 February in Science Advances argues that distinctive stone tools and a lone child’s tooth were left by Homo sapiens during a short stay, some 54,000 years ago — and not by Neanderthals, who lived in the rock shelter for thousands of years before and after that time.
Why is it claimed that the Neanderthals were “not fully human”?
In a Smithsonian Magazine yearender offering seven new things we are thought to have learned about human evolution in 2021, we read: Modern humans, Homo sapiens, evolved in Africa and eventually made it to every corner of the world. That is not news. However, we are still understanding how and when the earliest human migrations Read More…
Major Neanderthal cave discovery at Gibraltar
So far, no burial site has been found in the caves, and Finlayson speculated that digging down from the chamber at the apex of the cave could lead to side chambers and perhaps even a site where the Neanderthals placed their dead.
A design inference with respect to Neanderthal art
Just let the paleontologists keep on making design inferences… Don’t spoil the fun.
Researchers: Neanderthals were painting in a cave 65,000 years ago
If this is correct, the Neanderthals didn’t live in Andalusia’s Cueva de Arales; they seem to have been using it as a ceremonial site.
At Mind Matters News: New find pushes symbolic thinking further back in human history
The incisions on the bone could be a message or a charm but in any event they are instances of abstract thinking.
Girl’s parents are “two different species”?
Let’s just say, paleontologists need Neanderthals and Denisovans to be “different species.”
Claim (sort of) that carb-heavy diet fueled Neanderthal brain growth
Okay, so nuts did it. The thing is, fat, meat, and starch have all been blamed for the big human brain. When do we get round to spices and salt? They’ve been unjustly neglected.
Neanderthals’ role in early art now recognized
Hey, we remember when the idea of Neanderthals doing any art was a bombshell in 2012. They were the certified subhuman. While it lasted.
A psychologist weighs in on the Neanderthal extinction
Of course, it’s all very interesting. That is why we listen. But a dozen different theories are called “science” only out of courtesy. And it’s not clear that Coolidge and Overmann’s thirteenth theory (if that’s the count) is any improvement.
Researchers: Early stone tool culture of Neanderthals and other humans lasted much longer than thought
Overlap between the two cultures for many thousands of years would make a lot of sense because the newer technologies may not have been self-evidently better. Many considerations of time, energy, and risk would need to be factored in.
Claim: Neanderthal protein may reduce COVID-19’s severity
Neanderthal man gets smarter and more socially acceptable every time he crosses our radar. At one time, the story would have been: A COVID-like illness wiped him out.
Interesting new items from the Neanderthal genome
At Sapiens: Thanks to this work, we now know details about Neanderthals that the archaeological record alone could never have provided. For example, fragments of DNA from specimens found in Spain and Italy showed that at least some Neanderthals likely had pale skin and reddish hair—although, interestingly, the variations for this coloring are different from the variants found in modern humans. Apparently, redheads among Homo sapiens evolved separately…
Researchers: Neanderthals used same tech as modern humans, contrary to theory
The Neanderthal has demonstrated his inferiority by his complete inability to be as stupid as evolution theory requires.